What Are Plot Points?

by K.M. Weiland (@KMWeiland)

Take moment to think of some of the “big scenes” in some of your favorite stories. More than likely, the scenes that pop to mind are those in which major events occur. Jane meets Mr. Rochester. The Titanic hits the iceberg. Darth Vader kills Obi-Wan. These are some of the most dramatic scenes in film and literature. More than that, they’re scenes that move their respective plots forward by leaps and bounds.

Depending on the length and pacing of your story, you could have any number of plot points. In some sense, every single scene offers the potential for a plot point. Whenever something happens that changes your protagonist’s understanding of the conflict and his understanding of how to react to it, you’ve got yourself a plot point.

Our first plot point, which lands roundabout the first quarter mark, signifies the end of the first act. Although all sorts of exciting things have no doubt happened already, this plot point, more than all the previous ones, signals a change of pace for the protagonist. In one sense or another, everything up to this point has been setup.

But when the first major plot point hits at the end of the first act, everything changes. Your character can no longer walk away from the conflict. Whatever happens at the first plot point will invest him so deeply in the plot that he has no choice but to spend the first half of the second act trying to react to it.

When Jane meets Mr. Rochester at the quarter mark of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, her world is effectively changed forever. As the new governess at Thornfield, she can’t go back to the person she was before. From the very first moment she meets Rochester, her world begins to change.

The midpoint

Halfway through your book (and halfway through the second act), we find the second of our major plot points. Like the first major plot point, this one is going to rattle your character’s world all over again. But the major difference here is that this plot point is going to shake your character out of the reactionary stage that followed the first plot point. From here on, he’s going to start taking deliberate action against the antagonistic force.

When the iceberg hits James Cameron’s Titanic, Rose is unequivocally forced out of her reactions to having met Jack Dawson. She, and everyone else on the ship, is compelled to start taking action in order to save their lives. This is a particularly great example of how big a midpoint can be. Legendary director Sam Peckinpah calls the midpoint the “centerpiece” of your story—so make it shine!

The third plot point

At the 75% mark in your story, your second act will end and your third act will begin with your third and final major plot point. This will almost always be a low point for your character. All of his actions since the midpoint will seem to have led him to tragedy. Allies will have died, people will have betrayed him, or he will have messed up so badly he fears he can never be redeemed. But from these ashes, he will rise into a new series of actions, even more determined than before. This new determination will carry him right on up to the climax.

In the third plot point of George Lucas’s Star Wars: A New Hope, we find the heroes escaping the Death Star—but at the tremendous cost of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s life. Luke must rise from his own grief and confusion with a final resolve to do whatever is necessary to protect the rebel base on Yavin IV.

Always plan your major plot points carefully—and then double check them. What’s happening at the quarter marks in your story? Are your plot points firmly in place? What could you do to strengthen them even further? The more solid your plot points, the stronger your story’s entire foundation will be.

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